Miele gagged after bagging Dyson

UK: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the United Kingdom has forced Miele to withdraw magazine advertisements which compare its bagged vacuum cleaners with Dyson’s bagless machines after they were found to be misleading.

The Miele advertisement featured the headline “Bags better. Miele vacuums – setting the record straight” and featured a graph which showed a Miele vacuum cleaner compared to the ‘leading bagless brand’, making claims as to performance and the comparison between the two brands when picking up dust.

Dyson argued that the comparison was misleading as the Miele information used was based on the Dyson DC11 model, instead of the DC08, and also provided research which showed that the DC08 outperformed both the Miele vacuum and the DC11.

“We find it inexcusable for Miele to continue making false claims about the performance of its machines,” Dyson founder, James Dyson, told the UK Telegraph newspaper.

“We continue investing and improving the substance of our machines, not the spin surrounding them,” he said.

In agreeing with Dyson, the ASA ruled against Miele on six separate issues and Miele has been ordered to cease making the claims.

“We acknowledge the findings of the ASA,” a Miele spokesperson told the UK Telegraph.

“It [the advert] only appeared twice in a trade publication more than a year ago and we’ve got no plans to use it again,” the spokesperson for Miele UK said.

Dyson Australia has declined to comment on the matter.

Miele Australia has declined to comment other than to state that the matter does not apply to the local market.